We recently went away for the weekend and so gave our dragon, lil Barry, to the reptile centre that we bought him from to look after him while we were away. They have a sort of reptile boarding service and we thought it would be good for him to have a little health check as well. They said he seemed very healthy and happy and to keep doing whatever we’re doing.
When we brought him back after spending three nights at the reptile centre he at first seemed himself but very soon started manically bobbing his head at everything. He never used to do this, it’s almost like he’s picked up some sort of attitude while away. It’s not always at us - I’ve caught him doing it at walls and various objects when he thinks we aren’t there. He also isn’t showing any other signs of aggression - no stress marks, no black beard, he is eating as usual. He did do a very watery poo when he first got back that looked as though it was mostly water and grit.
Our two theories are either he is just a little stressed from moving back and forth and somehow venting that through bobbing, or he is in some way happy to be home and doing some sort of ‘yeah, this is MY territory’ thing.
He’s about 9-10 months old, has a nice 38-43 celcius basking spot, when he’s at home he eats powdered locusts, the occasion calci worm, pak Choi, spring greens, butternut squash, the occasional strawberry... as I said before he was given a clean bill of health at the reptile centre so we’re confident in our setup.
Another thing is that at the reptile centre we think he was kept somewhere he could see other dragons and was in a much smaller tank. Could that have triggered some sort of dominance trait in him?
It’s by no means an emergency, just wondering what’s going through his mind! Hoping maybe someone here thinks they know.
Thanks!
When we brought him back after spending three nights at the reptile centre he at first seemed himself but very soon started manically bobbing his head at everything. He never used to do this, it’s almost like he’s picked up some sort of attitude while away. It’s not always at us - I’ve caught him doing it at walls and various objects when he thinks we aren’t there. He also isn’t showing any other signs of aggression - no stress marks, no black beard, he is eating as usual. He did do a very watery poo when he first got back that looked as though it was mostly water and grit.
Our two theories are either he is just a little stressed from moving back and forth and somehow venting that through bobbing, or he is in some way happy to be home and doing some sort of ‘yeah, this is MY territory’ thing.
He’s about 9-10 months old, has a nice 38-43 celcius basking spot, when he’s at home he eats powdered locusts, the occasion calci worm, pak Choi, spring greens, butternut squash, the occasional strawberry... as I said before he was given a clean bill of health at the reptile centre so we’re confident in our setup.
Another thing is that at the reptile centre we think he was kept somewhere he could see other dragons and was in a much smaller tank. Could that have triggered some sort of dominance trait in him?
It’s by no means an emergency, just wondering what’s going through his mind! Hoping maybe someone here thinks they know.
Thanks!
